romione: Distance
by ATrueHufflepuff13
Summary: Ron is frustrated with the distance between him and Hermione. He needs to find something to help him before he ruins everything, but where can he look? The answer might be somewhere he doesn't expect. Setting: Before the end of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Harry Potter (duh). If I did, Fred wouldn't die and Voldemort would have died in the third book. I do not write for pay (after all, who would pay me?). Whatever else I didn't say (and I was supposed to), pretend I said it and just don't sue me.

Ron was sick of this. Ever since he broke up with Lavender, no, before that even, there had been a sort of distance between him and Hermione. Why couldn't it be normal? Why didn't Hermione fight with him anymore? He enjoyed being yelled at, scolded, fussed over, slapped, and even hit over the head with a textbook as long as Hermione did it.

His feet were up on the table, his arms dangling uselessly beside him, his mouth hanging open and his eyes staring hopelessly at the ceiling. No, there had to be this, this WALL between them, this chain pulling them apart, this invisible barrier blocking their—

"Pondering tomorrow's paper?" Hermione asked wryly.

Ron looked up, startled. His legs jerked off the table and his mouth snapped shut.

"Er, well, umm, you see, it's just, well, uh, hmm, you know, I mean, do you, no wait, ugh, well, it's just this."

"Yes?" Hermione asked patiently.

"Well, ugh, no, I mean, umm, ahh, well, oh, grr, umm, well, YES," he finally burst out, exhausted.

Hermione gave him the Hermione look, rolled her eyes, and pulled up a chair next to him.

"Alright," she said, "but I'm only going to correct your work, not do it for you."

Ron took a deep breath and tried to concentrate. He was NOT going to think about how her chair was touching his, or about how he could feel her warm breath against his cheek, or about how very beautiful she really was, or about the fact that she herself had volunteered to help him with his homework, or about SHUT UP! He told himself. What was he supposed to be working on anyways?

Hermione sighed. "The paper is supposed to compare Muggle flashlights to the spell _lumos_," she explained, "You could start by pointing out that a flashlight is an object but _lumos_ is a spell.

Ron shook his head, blinked, and jotted down what Hermione had just said. He looked back at Hermione expectantly.

"You fool," Hermione complained, "I said I would CHECK your work, not do it myself."

Ron groaned.

"What." Said Hermione, warningly,

"Why does there have to be this distance?" he complained, banging his head against the table.

"I don't know WHAT you're talking about," said Hermione, icily. "Don't you appreciate my help?"

"Sure," Ron muttered.

"THEN ACT LIKE IT!" Hermione almost shrieked.

Ron half hoped that Hermione would hit him over the head and scold him, but she marched stiffly up to her room without looking back. Ron sat back and sighed. That had certainly gone all wrong. He'd lost another chance to break the ice with Hermione. He even felt as though he might have made the ice thicker. Worse, he didn't have his paper ready yet, and he was almost positive Hermione was not going to help him with it. If only girls had an owner's manual explaining how they work.

Wait, maybe that was it! He couldn't be the only boy in this predicament, and perhaps someone who understood girls had written a book or something about them. He grinned as he thought of Hermione.

_"When in doubt, go to the library."_

**AN**: I hope you liked the first chapter, I already uploaded the second. This is my first romione fanfic, so PLEASE review and tell me what you think. What don't you like about it? What do you like about it? Are the chapters too short? Is the story to dull? Please tell me, I can't get better if I don't know. Next chapter is from Hermione's point of view.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: I'm not going to bother posting about how I don't own Harry Potter again. After all, If you wanted to know, just look at the first chapter...

Hermione was extremely annoyed, dreadfully confused, and horribly frustrated, and it was all because of that STUPID Ronald Weasley. They hadn't spoken since two nights ago when Ron made that insane outburst about DISTANCE.

What did he mean by it? Distance between what? They did have a big arithmancy test coming up, but Hermione had a feeling he wasn't talking about that. She wished she could read his mind and know what he was thinking. Whatever it was, he obviously couldn't put it into words. _"Or maybe he couldn't put it into words for me," _She thought, but hurriedly pushed that thought out of her mind.

She was furious at him, just furious. She had tried to be friends with him, but no, he obviously didn't want it. She wouldn't forget how many times he had hurt her.

First year for example. The only reason Hermione got caught by the troll was because of Ron. In the second year he made fun of her when she turned into a cat. Third year was ruined by his horrid accusations of Crookshanks. Fourth year? Hermione didn't even want to think about the Yule Ball anymore. Not to mention the continued reliance on lesson help.

_You're forgetting something _she realized. Ron might've thrown a horrid insult at her, but he did come back to save her after all. According to Harry, Ron had been the one who visited most when she was petrified. Hermione remembered the third year and couldn't blame Ron for the Crookshanks incident. After all, having his rat disappear out of the blue was not entirely normal. And fourth year, he was a big help to Harry at least. _But was his grudge against Krum out of jealousy?_ Nah, he was just mad for stupid Ron reasons.

Still, there really was no reason not to talk to Ron she finally decided. She gathered her books and headed down the hallway towards the library.

"So you decided you missed us?" asked Harry.

Hermione didn't answer, but she plumped down onto the chair between Ron and him. She ducked into her book.

Harry was obviously trying to read his, but his eyes seemed to wander around the room instead of staying on the page. Ron was reading a book too, (surprising but true) but he didn't seem very pleased with it. As Hermione watched, he slammed the book shut, flung it backwards onto the floor, and slumped down in his chair.

"Hello Hermione," he said, looking up.

Hermione stood up, stalked over to Ron's chair, grabbed the fallen book, and hit it over Ron's head.

"Bloody #% Hermione! You might've broken my head!"

"And you might have broken the book," she retorted. "Treat literature with more respect if you don't want to be hit again." She whirled around and Harry ducked back under his book. She realized everyone in the library was looking at her. Hermione blushed crimson. "That goes to all of you!" she said, trying to sound bold.

Madam Pince hurried up. "Quiet, quiet!" she hissed. "What seems to be the problem?" "He threw a book on the floor," Hermione said, pointing to Ron and handing Madame Pince the book.

Ron's grin vanished (wait, his grin?) and he looked up at Madam Pince with eyebrows raised. "What book is this anyway," she muttered. She turned the book over then raised an eyebrow at Ron. Ron glanced over at Hermione and Madam Pince almost burst out laughing. "My dear boy," she said, "You might want to consider something from this section." Madame Pince led him over to another side of the library, asking him all sorts of questions on the way.

Although Hermione could not hear them, she could see Ron's ears turning red and regretted that she had not closely examined the book he had been reading. Now she might never know.

**AN**: Please please please please review! Please!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: Anyone who thinks I own Harry Potter (or anyone who thinks I think I own Harry Potter for that matter) is stupid, so don't even bother reading this.

Madam Pince had been helpful, but Ron still didn't have the book he wanted. He had seen books about love, books about how to tell if you're in love, books about love charms, spells, and potions, and pretty much every other book related to the thing he wanted BUT he still didn't have a book on how to understand girls.

Of course, he couldn't expect Madam Pince to know about his predicament or even know the best books to help him out of it. After all, she was a girl, and girls don't know how unexplainable they are. But who else would know of a book on understanding girls?

Maybe he wasn't asking the right questions. Did he want a book on how to understand girls or a book on how to deal with girls? No, not "deal with them," he wasn't using the right words even in his head. Yea, he needed a book on how to explain his thoughts or feelings to Hermione. _Not just any thoughts or feelings_ he thought.

Yea, it would be nice if he could find a book that told him how to ask Hermione on a date. How AND when; he never could seem to find the perfect time to tell her anything, and whenever he finally blurted out what he wanted to say, he said it all wrong.

_I don't know what it is that I need, just that I need it_ he realized. Wow, that took a lot of thinking to come to this one conclusion. Ron rolled over, put all the thoughts about Hermione from his mind, and fell asleep.

When morning broke, he seemed to have found a solution. A temporary solution. Not even a solution yet really. He had just decided that he certainly couldn't figure this whole Hermione thing out himself, so he would ask someone else. Someone good with girls. He would ask someone good with girls what their secret was. Yea.

Ron felt pretty stupid. He had thought about this all night and his final decision was just common sense. He STILL hadn't figured out who to ask.

He spent the entire morning looking for people who seemed to be good with girls. Lee Jordan was flirting with Angelina Johnson, he was really good. Colin Creevy was responding politely to another girl's overly enthusiastic questions, so he at least knew how to handle girls if not more. Seamus, of course, was joking to everyone, oblivious of gender. He probably knows how to handle girls, but Ron wouldn't put him on the expert list.

Well, at least he knew where to start.

**AN**: I cheated a bit. I'm not going to tell you how, but a few smart, perceptive readers might catch my cheating. Maybe this will finally prompt you to review! Anyways, I really think that review button is getting lonely down there. Even if you only comment on whether or not you like the story, I still appreciate reviews. More than you think.

And this IS my first fanfic, so I need a lot of criticism if I'm going to get any better. Cmon, just once? It's so simple. Just go down there, type in a few words, and click "review." So simple.

Oh, and to prompt you, I will respond to anyone who asks how I cheated. There, now will you review?


	4. Chapter 4

Hermione shuffled along the hall looking at her feet. She was on her way to Arithmancy, her favorite class, when Draco Malfoy had knocked her down and called her a mudblood - again. She didn't really mind, he called her that all the time, but it still kind of hurt.

She re-organized her books as she walked, making sure they were in the correct order. Draco might've called her a stupid mudblood, but that didn't mean she was excused from class. She still had Arithmancy and Defense Against the Dark Arts before she was excused for the day.

Hermione walked up the stairs thinking about all of these things at once. Arithmancy was two floors up from where she was, if she kept going at this pace she would get to class exactly two minutes ahead of schedual.

When she turned to go up the next flight of stairs she was so busy thinking, she did not notice the creak of the stairs until too late. As she put her foot on the stair in front of her, the stairs folded upwards and Hermione lost her balance. She grabbed for the railing as it receded, but she was pushed off by the next staircase.

Hermione screamed as she plummeted. She heard a crack which must've been the sound of her hitting the concrete staircase. She opened her eyes, looking at a spot, three floors up, where she used to be,. "I'll never make it to my next class in time," she thought, then blacked out.

Hermione woke up in the hospital wing fourteen hours later. She was surprised to see Ron by her bedside. "Ron, it's the middle of the night, how come you're in the hospital wing?" she mumbled hazily. "How come I'm in the hospital wing?"

Ron's face relaxed and Hermione could see how worried he had been. "You fell off the stairs this morning on your way to Arithmancy.

"Three floors, I know," said Hermione. "Wait, I fell off the stairs? Where – who found me? How did I end up here? Am I late for class? Oh shoot I missed it didn't I."

Ron chuckled a little. "Yea, you missed it."

"I have a lot of catching up to do then," Hermione said decidedly.

Ron laughed. "Hermione, it was only two classes. You only have the homework you didn't do tonight."

"Yea, but that's still a lot of catching up to do," Hermione said, "Now can you tell me what happened? Apparently I was unconscious."

Ron took a deep breath and began. "Hanna Abbot heard you fall and ran to get help. Ginny got the news and told everyone in the common room to come help. Neville, Seamus and I got there first and carried you up to the hospital wing. Apparently you broke three ribs, the lower part of your right leg, dislocated the knee of your left leg, broke your left ankle, sprained your left wrist, and did something to your spine except I can't remember what.

"My left spine or my right spine?" Hermione joked. "And did Madam Pomfrey tell you how long I'm going to be in here?"

Ron's face scrunched up thoughtfully. "I think she said you could leave tomorrow morning," he said finally.

"So I only have like four more hours in the hospital wing?"

"No, I said tomorrow morning. It's not tomorrow, it's today."

"But it's only five minutes until tomorrow's today right?" Hermione looked at the glowing clock beside her bed. "No wait, tomorrow turned today five minutes ago."

Ron laughed. "You seem pretty cheerful for a girl who woke up at 11:45pm and found out she'd just broken every bone in her body."

Hermione smiled grimly. "Yea, I just about did, didn't I. So how come you're in the hospital wing in the middle of the night? Did Madam Pomfrey give you special permission or something?"

Footsteps sounded in the hall and Ron paled. Hermione giggled. "Quick, under the bed," she whispered.

"WEASLEY," Madam Pomfrey screeched, throwing aside the curtain surrounding Hermione's bed. "Hmm, that's funny, I was sure he'd sneak in here. Oh, hello Hermione, you're awake."

"Yes," said Hermione, trying not to laugh. "Did you say Ron was here?"

"He might've been," Madam Pomfrey said, "He was worried sick about you. Filch had to drag him out of the hospital wing when visiting hours ended. I wouldn't wonder if he snuck back here sometime during the night to see how you were doing."

Hermione smiled. "You haven't seen him have you?" Madam Pomfrey said curiously. She had an unreadable expression on her face.

Hermione started. "Oh, hmm, what? No, he wasn't here I don't think," she said hurriedly.

Madam Pomfrey just smiled. Hermione had a feeling that Madam Pomfrey knew she wasn't telling the truth, but she turned around and walked out of the hospital wing.

"Phew," came a voice from under her bed. "Thank goodness she's gone. It's horrible dusty down here, I was afraid I'd give it all away when I sneezed." Ron's head poked out and he sneezed. The rest of him slithered out from under the bed and Hermione could see that it really was dusty under the bed.

"I suppose I'd better leave soon," Ron sighed, "You know, before morning comes and visiting hours start."

"Yea, I suppose so," whispered Hermione.

"Well, see you in, what, five hours?"

"Sure."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Ron crept out of the curtained area and snuck down the hall. Hermione snuggled down into her pillow, breathing in what was left of Ron's smell. "Good night Ron," she whispered to herself. "Don't get caught by Madam Pomfrey on your way out."

"I KNEW YOU WERE IN THERE WEASLEY!"

* * *

**Auror's notes**: Yes! I got the "horizontal lines to work! Well, maybe I didn't, I'll just have to wait until it's published. I'm also sorry (to all the people who actually waited for the next chapter) that it took me so long to get this published. I had to rewrite it three times until I had satisfied myself. That's not counting what I deleted when I took out the part when Draco Malfoy bullies her.

So...

Even if all you have to say is "I liked it," I'll still be happy if you review.

Aww, cmon, it'll make me so happy I'll write another chapter twice as fast as this one.

Please?


	5. Chapter 5

Ron crept out of the hospital wing as silently as he could. Madam Pomfrey had caught him (pretty cleverly at that) and she had now punished him by making him agree to help in the hospital wing all day Saturday. That was tomorrow. No wait, Saturday was today. How was he supposed to keep track of days when it was the middle of the night? Anyhow, it wasn't like it was actually a punishment. He got to spend the whole day with Hermione tomorrow. Today. Arggh!

Ron whispered the password to the fat lady and pushed the door of the common room open, hoping to sneak up to his dorm without anyone noticing.

Well, he'd have to come up with another plan.

The whole of Gryffindor (not really but just about) was sitting in the common room waiting for someone or something. He froze, embarrassed at being caught sneaking out.

"So how's your girlfriend?" Lee Jordan asked.

"What? Do you – I don't, I don't have a girlfriend."

"He means Hermione," Ginny said patiently. "What did you think we were all sitting here waiting for?"

"Uh, she's doing ok, um, well, she'll be out tomorrow, um,"

"Yea, we know that, we were there," Harry explained. "Now did she wake up or did Madam Pomfrey find you and kick you out? How come you're back here?"

"Oh," Ron said stupidly, "Yea. Well, she woke up and she seemed to be doing well, 'cause Madam Pomfrey came by and Hermione tricked her into thinking I wasn't there. Except then I left and Madam Pomfrey caught me, so I guess it didn't do much good."

Everyone was silent for a minute, then two of the girls went up to bed.

"How come you're all down here?" asked Ron.

"We were waiting for you of course," said Seamus, "Just because you're the only one who wants to marry Hermione doesn't mean no one else cares if she's alive or dead."

Ron's ears turned bright red. Was he really that obvious? Neville stood up and stretched, then he went to bed too. So did three more girls. Ron looked at Lee Jordan and decided that now, if anytime, was the time for asking him.

Ron plopped into the seat beside Lee Jordan and cleared his throat.

"What's up mate?" Lee Jordan grinned.

"How do you, how come you're so good with girls?" Ron stammered.

Lee Jordan laughed. "My dear boy," he said in a superior tone, "You have no idea do you."

Ron looked around. Everyone who wasn't asleep was trying to hold back laughs.

"No I don't," Ron declared angrily, "So tell me."

Lee Jordan grinned again, and said "So, why did you come to me for advice?"

"Um, because you're good with girls?"

"Did you know that the only reason I'm 'good' with girls is because I was best mates with the two best flirters on the planet?"

"Who?"

Everyone laughed.

"Your own brothers, silly!" Parvati yelled. "Fred and George!"

Ron's whole face turned red at this point, and he stuck his head in his hands. "Is it really true?" He asked, his voice muffled by his hands, "They're the ones to ask?"

"Yup, if you want the best advice, go for the brothers." Lee Jordan laughed.

"Ok then, I'll be in my bed. Thanks I guess."

Ron left everyone laughing and chattering about how stuck he was on Hermione.

If he was this obvious, had Hermione noticed? _I hope not_, he thought desperately. He pulled the covers over his head, determined not to listen to Harry's nightly lecture about whatever was bothering him. Strangely, Harry didn't say anything at all.

_Oh yea, that's because he's downstairs with the other boys laughing at me,_ He thought. _Never mind though, I get to spend the whole of tomorrow with Hermione._

* * *

**AN**: I actually got this chapter done in two days. I sort of had most of it in my head from the start of the story, but I think I did a good job of putting it into words. _Now_ do you see why I had to have Lee Jordan stay at Hogwarts an extra year? Oops, I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Oh well, I sort of wanted to. So there you have it. I cheated. Do you think it was worth it?

If you don't review, I'll never know if you liked this chapter or not. :(

Oh, and thank you to the people who reviewed on last chapter. I had fun with it!

And a double thank you to followers! Yay! Someone actually looks forward to my next chapters!

Review review review!


	6. Chapter 6

Hermione woke to the sound of cursing and a slightly painful burn on her right cheek. She opened her eyes and sat up. Ron was cursing and swatting at his face which had somehow caught on fire.

"Ron, what did you do?" Hermione gasped.

"HOW DO YOU GET THE BLOODY FIRE OFF MY FACE?!"

Hermione's brow furrowed, then suddenly she realized what had happened. Her hand flew to her burned cheek.

"Ron did you - Ron did you kiss me?" She asked in amazement.

"JUST TELL ME HOW TO GET THIS STUFF OFF!" Ron desperately swung his wand and dumped a bucket of water on his head. The water completely soaked his clothes and most of Hermione's bed, but it didn't do anything to the lively flames dancing off his cheeks.

"Hold still," Hermione muttered. She reached for her wand on the bedside table and muttered a charm. The flames quietly died down, leaving Ron's hair a bit singed.

"What was that?" Ron asked, confused, after he had finished cursing.

Hermione's lips twitched. "Someone cast the kissing curse on you," she explained. "Until you work the counter curse, your face will burst into flames every time you kiss someone."

"Blast that Madam Pomfrey! So it wasn't a sanitizing charm that she cast on me, was it?" Ron said angrily.

Hermione looked amused. "Well, she might've."

Ron suddenly realized something. "Oh, well, I just, I mean, I thought you were asleep, I didn't want, well I think I'd better go see what Madam Pomfrey wants me to do next," He blustered. Ron awkwardly backed out of the curtained area surrounding Hermione's bed.

"I'm helping Madam Pomfrey today, she said that was a suitable punishment for sneaking in at night." Ron explained as he left. "So I'm pretty busy I have to go."

Hermione watched him leave, then dried the floor and the bed with her wand. She heard Ron slip on the smooth floor of the hospital wing and chuckled as he tried to perform the drying spell in between curses.

Hermione's hand touched her cheek lightly. The burn was still there. Had Ron really kissed her? But why? He couldn't possibly feel the same way she did about him. So why did he kiss her? Nothing was making sense.

Hermione looked at the clock, trying to get her

mind off her tingling cheek. 10:08. So that would mean that she had slept, what, ten hours? She stretched her arms out and winced at the pain. Why couldn't bones just heal with the touch of a wand?

She remembered when Harry had to have his bones re-grown in his second year. That had taken quite a long time.

Hermione looked around searching for something else to think about. There was a window behind her. When she stretched her neck up, she could see that it gave a splendid view of the forbidden forest. She must be in the fourth bed on the right hand row. That meant that she was right across from the bed Ron stayed in a few weeks ago.

Ron. Why couldn't she get that name out of her head? _Because he kissed me,_ she thought, _he kissed me when I was sleeping._ Her mind suddenly collected itself and she wondered where it had been the whole time. She sat up in bed and threw her arms up happily, mindless of the small but sharp pains in her left wrist. "Ron kissed me!" she sang joyously.

* * *

See this little word box right here? How about you type something in it and hit Review.


	7. Chapter 7

Ron was not very happy with Madam Pomfrey at the moment. Not very was actually an understatement. Hermione had found out everything. What if this ruined their friendship? He hoped that Hermione would just forget everything that had happened. Maybe she would.

Ron, not looking where he was going, bumped into Madam Pomfrey. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Why is your hair wet?" she asked suspiciously.

Ron hastily dried his hair, but he refused to answer.

"Have you been kissing the Granger girl?"

No answer.

"You didn't wake her up when your face caught on fire did you?"

No answer.

"Are you going to answer me or do you prefer to finish your detentions with Professor Snape?"

"I'd rather spend detention with Snape than with you."

"Thank you for answering Weasley, I will allow you to remain in the hospital wing. Please take this glass of water to the ninth bed on the right hand side. Thank you."

Ron grumpily continued his chores, and after thirty minutes, every patient in the wing had drunk a glass of water. Except Hermione. He was sort of scared to go in there. Finally, he gathered up the courage and took the plunge.

"Hey," he stammered nervously. "I'm supposed to make you drink this."

"Ok," Hermione said politely. She took the glass of water and drank it in three gulps. She gave it back to Ron and looked at him expectantly. Oh, she was expecting him to say something.

Ron felt horrid. If he didn't say every word exactly how he needed to, everything would end up the wrong way. He knew he was supposed to say something, but he didn't even know what he was supposed to say. He couldn't get this wrong, he just couldn't!

"Um, well, I guess I'm supposed to say something," he stammered, then _Oh stupid Ron! I can't believe you actually did that. That isn't how you begin a conversation at all!_

Hermione laughed. Ron was a bit surprised, but at least she wasn't mad at him, yet. "I suppose you are," she said cheerfully, "but what are you supposed to say?"

Ron relaxed visibly. "Um, I don't know."

"Me neither."

"Well, um, the weather's nice today,"

Hermione giggled again. Boy, she was in a good mood today. "Well, why did you kiss me?"

Ron stiffened. He would tell the truth, but not all the truth. Not the parts she might be mad at him for. Not the parts he didn't want her to hear yet.

"Um, well, because you looked so pretty lying there sleeping and because you, well, I guess you looked like you needed a kiss. I don't exactly know why I did it."

Hermione seemed to be thinking this over. This was very uncomfortable, just standing here while Hermione judged him. Her expression changed to a soft, sort of unreadable expression. She smiled sweetly.

"Thank you Ron," she said.

"For what?" he asked, as he felt the tips of his ears turn red.

Hermione blushed. "Um, for waking me up."

"Oh, yea, ok," Ron said. This was getting a bit awkward, just standing here.

"WEASLEY! YOU BETTER NOT BE WHERE I THINK YOU ARE!"

"Oh, I have to go."

"Of course."

Ron stumbled through the curtains again, but this time with a smile on his face. Hermione wasn't mad at him! It even looked like the distance that used to be between them was fading away. It looked like it.

You know, Ron didn't hate Madam Pomfrey as much as he thought he did after all.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** The end is near. If you all really liked it, I MIGHT write a sequel, but right now I'm working on something else you might like...


	8. Chapter 8

Hermione watched the clock tick away. She suspected that she wouldn't be seeing Ron anytime soon. Madam Pomfrey was sure to have him horribly busy for the rest of the day, whether he was doing something she needed him to do, or not.

She watched the bigger hand inch slowly toward the 12. She was waiting for it to reach 11:00, but she wasn't even sure why. She wasn't even sure she wanted to know why, she was too drowsy and comfortable to want to remember.

Of course, this isn't saying that she couldn't remember if she wanted to, it's just saying that she didn't want to bother remembering at the moment. Whatever she was waiting for, she was pretty sure it was arriving at 11:00.

10:39.

10:40.

10:41.

Suddenly there was a loud thumping farther down the hall.

"Whoever's doing that thumping is insane, visiting hours don't start until 11:00 and Madam Pomfrey never gives exceptions." She muttered. _Visiting hours, oh yea, that was what she was waiting for!_

"Bang, bang, BANG," went the door.

"I'll go see who it is," Ron said helpfully to Madam Pomfrey.

"Oh, I already know who it is and you do too," Madam Pomfrey sighed. "No one bangs on the door of the hospital wing nineteen minutes before visiting hours start unless their two best friends are in there waiting for them."

"Are you sure?" Ron asked uncertainly, "You never know, it could be someone else."

"Madam Pomfrey! Your supply of flix juice is here," the door said with a voice that sounded a lot like Ginny imitating Professor Sprout.

"Oh," said Madam Pomfrey, sounding very confused. "Is that you, Professor Sprout?"

"Yes, of course," said the door. "It's me with your supply of flix juice."

"Oh, well, my mistake. Weasley, get the door."

Hermione smiled slightly. She didn't have any idea how Harry and Ginny figured out that Madam Pomfrey had ordered flix juice from Professor Sprout, but it was pretty clever, and it was working.

Ron walked past her bed to the door of the hospital wing. Hermione grabbed her wand and blew apart the curtains. She had to see this.

Ron winked at her, then opened the door.

"Uh, Professor Sprout? Are you there?" he asked, stifling a laugh.

"Yes, I'm over here. Will you help me lift this box of flix juice?"

"Sure," Ron said happily. He glanced back at Madam Pomfrey and ducked outside. Hermione heard Ron grunting as if he was carrying something heavy, then a loud crash. A few not so nice words floated into the hospital wing.

"Curse that Weasley," Madam Pomfrey muttered. She marched outside. "WEASLEY IF YOU'VE DROPPED THAT BOX OF FLIX JUICE I'LL— Weasley?"

"Petrificus Totalus!" Harry yelled. Madam Pomfrey stiffened and fell into Ron's arms. He leaned her against the wall and everything was silent for a moment.

Suddenly the whole hospital wing was filled with cheers. Students came pouring in and began setting up banners and inflating balloons.

"What in the world," Hermione said, astonished. She looked at the posters which read "Happy Birthday Helga Hufflepuff!" Oh, so it was Helga Hufflepuff's birthday. Wait, she had a birthday? Hermione never remembered reading anything about celebrating Helga Hufflepuff's birthday.

"Hi Hermione," Ginny said delightfully as she came over to sit beside her.

"What's this about Helga Hufflepuff's birthday?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, well, we just wanted an excuse for taking over the hospital wing today, so we got the Ravenclaws to find us a good wizarding holiday we could celebrate. Turns out that today's Helga Hufflepuff's birthday, so we decided to throw a celebration. All the Ravenclaws are excited about it because they discovered it, all the Hufflepuffs are excited because, well, it's their founder's celebration, and all the Gryffindors are excited about it because it's a party, so we have a lot of people excited about it."

"But what's the excuse for taking over the hospital wing?"

"We have a lot of people and from more than one house. We can't throw a party from one of our common rooms because no one else can get in, and we can't throw a party just anywhere in Hogwarts because not all the rooms are big enough."

"You could use the room of requirement or the great hall," Hermione objected. "Then you might not be in so much trouble when everyone finds out."

"Oh we won't be in trouble, Ginny winked at her. Besides, you know why we decided to throw a party in here."

Everyone was busy setting up tables of refreshments, hanging posters, playing music, and to Madam Pomfrey's despair, rolling curtains away from beds. Luckily, there weren't any serious cases in the hospital at the moment, and all the patients were sitting up in bed laughing their heads off.

A Hufflepuff who had been watching the clock ever since she came into the room screamed "IT'S TEN FIFTY SEVEN! THE EXACT MOMENT WHEN HELGA HUFFLEPUFF WAS BORN!"

Everyone cheered, then broke into a chorus of "Happy Birthday to you!" When they had all finished, a huge cake which read "Happy Birthday Helga Hufflepuff!" divided itself up into pieces and floated around the room. Hermione caught one and Ginny handed her a plate and a fork to go with it.

"We had the house elves prepare this stuff for us so we didn't have to steal a cake," she explained.

"You made HOUSE ELVES do this?" Hermione fussed, "Why didn't you just do it yourselves?"

Ginny winced. "Well, at least we didn't steal it."

The clock struck eleven. Someone yelled "Visiting hours just started!" A crowd of people gathered around Madam Pomfrey. Ron majestically preformed the counter-curse and Madam Pomfrey stood up sternly.

"WEASLEY YOU ARE ALL IN SO MUCH TROUBLE I'LL HAVE FILCH GIVE YOU ALL DETENTIONS IN THE" she broke off when she saw the decorations. "WHAT did you do to my HOSPITAL?" she shrieked.

Ginny sprang up and made her way over to the crowd. She put on her best innocent face and began talking about how unfair it was that Helga Hufflepuff's birthday was never celebrated and how the hospital wing was the only place big enough for the party and listing reason after reason for why they were doing what they were doing.

Hermione knew Ginny and Harry and she also knew that not one of the reasons she listed was a real reason for why they were doing this, but Madam Pomfrey hesitated. Finally she gave in.

"You really are right, no one celebrates Helga Hufflepuff's birthday. I guess you may have your party in here as long as you aren't too loud and I get to pick the music."

The house erupted in cheers and a boy next to Ginny tried to give her a high five, but he accidentally slapped her in the face. As Ginny ran off to practice her Bat Boogey Hex, Hermione wondered out loud.

"Why did Madam Pomfrey give in so easily?"

"Oh didn't you know," a nearby Ravenclaw asked. "Madam Pomfrey is a Hufflepuff."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I hope you liked this chapter. I made up "flix juice" but, you know, there have to be plenty more magic healing juices out there that would require a plant, so I took the liberty.

Did I ask you to review in the last chapter? Pretend I did if I didn't. Please review! Also, if I wrote more HP fanfiction, would you read it? Let me know please.

Oh, and I didn't say that I wouldn't write more if you wouldn't read it, I'm just curious...

Oh and ALSO... Madam Pomfrey IS a Hufflepuff; at least, everything I read on Google says so.


	9. Chapter 9

Ron was stuffing cake into his mouth as fast as he could. It was really good, those house elves sure knew what they were doing.

Suddenly, the twin's purple owl smashed into the window of the hospital wing. Ron hurried to the window and opened it. The owl flew in and dropped a package on Ron's head. After pecking Ron's ear until he gave it a piece of cake, it flew away.

Ron opened the parcel eagerly. Inside was a small book with a note attached. It was written in horribly fancy handwriting, but he supposed that the twins had used their dictating pen to write it. It read

_Dear Ron,_

_We are pleased to learn that you have finally come to your senses and are attempting to win Hermione's favor. We are also pleased to learn that you have finally realized how wonderful we are at charming witches. Of course, you could never become as good as us, but we have sent the source of all our secrets along with this note. _

_We expect a photograph proclaiming your success in three days' time. Use Harry's owl if you can't afford to rent one._

_~Fred and George Weasley_

Ron looked at the book curiously. The title was very straightforward, with "12 Fail Safe Ways to Charm Witches" printed in gold lettering.

As he opened the book and flipped through it, his excitement built. This was EXACTLY what he had been looking for! As he looked up at Hermione giggling and chattering with her other friends, he realized that he was probably not as unlucky as he thought he was.

_Here ends the story of how Ron got his book, but the story of how he used it is certainly not. If you want more, reread the Deathly Hallows. _

* * *

**Auror's Notes:** Thank you all so much for your reviews and your patience when I take so long to update. I am sorry that the last chapter is so short. I thought about adding quotes from the Deathly Hallows to make it longer and more complete, but decided against it. Partly because I couldn't find the book, but also because I didn't want to spoil the best parts of it for those who haven't read it, and if you HAVE read it, I needn't put it in.

Oh, and even though the story is over, it would still be nice if you reviewed. Please? Pretty please? Reviews are ALWAYS written well in my opinion. Even if they just say "I liked the story," it's still a review, and it's still very thoughtful and generous. Besides, I'll never know if you liked or didn't like the story unless you tell me!

And also, to the person who caught my typo in chapter 5, THANK YOU for pointing that out. You are right of course, Pansy Parkinson does not belong in the Gryffindor common room. I had meant to put Parvati, but I guess I didn't. So... Sorry guys! I fixed it now.


End file.
